Electrical appliances differ widely with respect to the amounts of electricity which they consume, which, in turn, determines the cost of running the appliances. However, in most cases, the amount of electricity consumed by an appliance is not readily apparent to a consumer. It would be useful if a consumer had means at his disposal by which electric power consumption could be measured, in which case a consumer could take steps to use higher power consumption devices more sparingly in order to save costs. This would result in a general saving of energy, which is in the public interest.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a power meter which readily provides a consumer with data regarding the power consumption of an electrical appliance.